By Heidi Baxley
[Cedar City, UT] – To raise awareness about the potential for misuse of prescription medications, [Southwest Prevention, the Iron County Sheriff’s Department, Southwest Technical College and Lin’s Fresh Market] are sponsoring a Prescription Drug Take Back Day event as part of the DEA’s National Take Back Initiative on Saturday, Oct 25th from 10am -2pm.
According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, prescription drug abuse is the nation’s fastest-growing drug problem. Most individuals who misuse prescription drugs, particularly teens, believe that these substances are safer than illicit drugs because they are prescribed by a healthcare professional and dispensed by a pharmacist. The first step in attempting to tackle the problem of prescription drug abuse is to educate parents, youth, and patients about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs.
To address the abuse and misuse of prescription drugs, community organizations, public health entities and law enforcement are collaborating to host drug take-back programs nationwide. These drug disposal programs are a good way to remove expired, unwanted or unused medicines from the home and reduce the chance that someone may accidentally or intentionally take the medicine.
What can you do in your community?
Follow disposal guidelines. Don’t flush your prescription medications, our waste water systems aren’t designed to filter medications out. They could end up in our ground water or soil. If no instructions are given on the drug label, and no take-back program is available in your area, take them out of their original containers and mix them with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter — to make the medication less appealing and unrecognizable — then put them in a sealable bag, empty can, or other container to prevent the medication from leaking or breaking out of a garbage bag.
Talk to your kids: It’s important that our children learn about the proper use of medications. Set clear rules and consequences about any substance use. For more information, tips and tools visit www.parentsempowered.org
Take advantage of community take-back programs & permanent disposal boxes: Prescription Drug Take Back Day occurs twice yearly in April and October. In addition, Iron County has 7 permanent disposal boxes available to use year round:
- Iron County Sheriff’s Office
- Cedar City Police Department
- SUU Police Department
- Township Pharmacy
- Wal-Mart
- Four Points Healthcare (pending new Pharmacy)
- Parowan Drug & Gift
Cedar City Prescription Drug Take Back Day
Saturday, October 25th
10am-2pm
Cedar City Lin’s Fresh Market
Will collect: Prescription medications, over the counter medications, liquids
Will not collect: Medical waste, syringes, intravenous solutions, and injectables
For more information visit www.southwestprevention.org